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Kristi Funderburk | @kfunder

Funtown Pier in Seaside. / PETER ACKERMAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Work continues post-Sandy on the south end of the Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk's businesses. / Tom Spader/Staff Photographer

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The breathtaking thrill as the roller coaster falls down a big drop. The escalating anticipation just before bumper cars collide. The moment at the top of the Ferris wheel when time stands still.

Thousands of moments and memories of a summer down the Shore begin with a trip to the amusement park.

Superstorm Sandy almost ruined them for summer 2013.

Snapshots of summer’s past were quickly replaced with images of Casino Pier’s Jet Star roller coaster in the Atlantic Ocean.

Six months later, however, Jenkinson’s Boardwalk and Keansburg Amusement Park have re-opened their rides, and Casino Pier is planning a Memorial Day weekend return. FunTown Amusement Pier will miss the season, but the owners of all four parks imagine a bright future.

“We’re going to be bigger and better. We’re making lemonade out of lemons,” Keansburg Amusement Park co-owner William Gehlhaus said.

Park-goers agree.

“We’re not going to let it die,” said Anna Cranmer, 53, a Florida resident who spent most of her life at the Jersey Shore, as she surveyed the remains of Casino Pier. “This is a part of us.”

Casino Pier

Sandy did more than drag Casino Pier’s Jet Star roller coaster into the Ocean. About 200 feet of the pier’s northernmost section and another 50 feet on the southern end were lost in the storm, allowing the ocean to also swallow the Log Flume, Stillwalk Manor, Centrifuge and Music Xpress rides, said Maria Mastoris, marketing manager for Casino Pier and Breakwater Beach Waterpark.

At least 18 of the pier’s 36 rides — including the Skyscraper, Moby Dick and Swing Carousel — as well as Breakwater Beach Waterpark, the Go Karts, arcade, games and food services will also be open this summer, Mastoris said.

“The boardwalk means so much to both locals and tourists,” Mastoris said. “Many come each summer to enjoy the rides and food; we didn’t want to take that away.”

FunTown Amusement Pier

About a half-mile south on the Seaside Heights-Seaside Park border, FunTown Amusement Pier has become a construction site since Sandy struck.

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Sandy claimed about 90 percent of the 33 rides —from go-carts to roller coasters to the Himalaya — and 80 percent of the boards that made up pier, said owner Bill Majors.

Some FunTown rides also dropped into the ocean, and the Ferris Wheel, standing but severely damaged, was be dismantled.

Faced with so much damage, Majors decided not to re-open this summer, but expressed plans to return in 2014 with “a bigger, better amusement park.”

Matt Urenovich, 24, and Amanda Smith, 25, both of Watchung, couldn’t believe the devastation at FunTown.

“There’s people who couldn’t come back from this,” Smith said.

Jenkinson's Boardwalk

Rides are running, spinning and cruising again on Jenkinson’s Boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach.

As Sandy approached, workers were already preparing for winter — and just worked more quickly to secure the rides. That effort helped spare the park, allowing it to re-open Palm Sunday weekend, spokeswoman Toby Wolf said.

The park’s damaged train station was damaged, rebuilt by workers, will be open this summer, Wolf said. The southern golf course and batting cages still need work, and South Beach Sweets is under renovation.

The aquarium, neighboring Sweet Shop and arcades, heavily flooded in the storm, re-opened earlier this year. Jenkinson’s South Beach Arcade is also re-opened, but only after the replacement of everything indide.

If there is a bright side to coming back from a devastating storm, it’s the opportunity for renewal through all the renovations, Wolf noted.

Keansburg Amusement Park

In more than 100 years, no storm has kept Keansburg Amusement Park from opening for summer. This year is no exception, co-owner William Gehlhaus said.

“You only have a 90-day season,” he said. “You have to be fully functional every day.”

The storm twice drove the ocean into the park, dragging up to 5 feet of sand with it.

Gehlhaus, a third-generation owner, said employees have worked nearly nonstop to get the park ready and, like Jenkinson’s, they were able to honor tradition with a Palm Sunday re-opening. Though it opened with half its rides, more open each week.

This summer, guests can expect five new rides, and new games because of replacements and upgrades, Gehlhaus said. The park also completed previously planned renovations at the Roaring Rapids water park, he said.